Colin Walls

What is a compiler? Ask an average engineer and you will get an answer something like: “A software tool that translates high level language code into assembly language or machine code.” Although this definition is not incorrect, it is rather incomplete and out of date - so 1970s. A better way to think of a compiler is: “A software tool that translates an algorithm described in a high level language code into a functionally identical algorithm expressed in assembly language or machine code.” More words, yes, but a more precise definition.